Gotham Bosses Are Making Another Batman Prequel TV Show--This Time About Alfred Pennyworth

Gotham isn't over yet, as Fox has renewed the series for a fifth and final season. However, the show's producers are looking to the future, and it is looking decidedly Batman. Bruce Heller and Danny Cannon have received a straight-to-series order on yet another prequel to the Dark Knight's story--and it won't be connected to Gotham at all.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Epix has ordered 10 episodes of Pennyworth, exploring the history of Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth before he came to Gotham City. The show will follow Alfred's life in London in the 1960s after his time as a soldier in the British SAS, as he begins working with Bruce's father, Thomas Wayne.

Heller will write the pilot script and serve as showrunner on the new series, with Cannon joining as executive producer and director of the first episode--just as he did with Gotham. Still, it's important to note once again that this is not set in the same continuity as Gotham, but rather carve its own path in retelling this piece of the Batman mythos.

That means Sean Pertwee will not be reprising his Gotham role as Alfred in Pennyworth. However, an actor has not yet been cast in the role.

Interestingly, this isn't the only new DC Comics series Cannon's name is attached to. It was announced in January that he and Gotham executive producer John Stephens were developing Metropolis--a Superman prequel that follows Lois Lane and Lex Luthor--for DC Universe, the upcoming streaming network. As Deadline reports, that project is currently being redeveloped, while a release date has not been revealed.